No Fear in Love

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear *involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  ~ 1 John 4:18

We know that fear is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real, but I’ll take it one step further and say that fear is a lack of trust.  As God’s Word says, “the one who fears is not perfected in love.”  God is that love and those of us who live in or with fear have not yet been perfected or encompassed by it.

This fear can be broken down into many different categories.  There’s the fear of abandonment, which keeps you from speaking up for yourself in a healthy and respectful manner.  There’s the fear of rejection that keeps you from standing up for what is right and true.  The fear of rejection can also be coupled with the fear of failure and/or the fear of success, all of which can keep you from fulfilling your dreams and God’s purposes for your life.

Fear is a great immobilizer.  God put warning signals in our brains to send out as messages to our bodies to keep us from harm.  Satan, however, twisted it to keep us from the things God intended for us.  One thing, above all others, that fear keeps us from is understanding and living in a perfect relationship with God our Father.  Because the enemy has used our earthly relationships with other the men in our lives—our fathers, uncles, brothers, husbands, boyfriends, etc.—to cause us fear in some way, we reflect that back onto Father God and we are kept from having the perfect relationship with Him—the One who is able to cast out all our fears and protect us.

If there is only one scripture you study and get to know better, make it this one.  Allow Father’s perfect love to displace your fears.  Allow His tenderness to sink into your bones and seep into your heart.  Allow His peace to overcome your thoughts.  Allow His joy to replace your fretting and grief.  Allow His promises to replace your worries.  Trust in His love enough to allow it to replace your fears.

Do No Be Deceived

Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies. ~ Exodus 5:9

How many times has it happened that we receive a Word or promise from God and the enemy immediately ramps up his attacks against us?  I think it happens every time.  It reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in Mark 4 about the farmer who sows seed, which is the Word.  For some people, the Word is sown into their lives, but either due to their having no root or being deceived that word is chocked out of them (see Mark 4:16-20).  When the enemy assaults us with these attacks after we’ve received a Word from God, we need to remember two things: 1) The enemy cannot create something new—as God can—he can only produce a counterfeit of the Truth.  That means if God promises us blessings by following His path, the enemy will come in with a “short-cut” that sounds similar to God’s promises, but will only lead to pain & death in the end.  2) the Bible tells us  that the devil is the “Father of lies” and has come to the earth to “steal, kill, and destroy” all that God has given us and promised to us (see John 8:44; John 10:10).  The devil has come to distract us.  Just as Pharaoh, upon hearing that Moses was sent with the message to let God’s people go, increased the pain of the Israelites, the enemy will try to increase our pain so we are so distracted with what’s in front of us, we will have no time to focus on God’s promises.

Jesus promised us, “In this world you will  have trouble.  But take heart, for I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).  Jesus knew that as soon as we received a promise from God, the enemy would pounce on us to distract us from going after it.  But, Jesus also assures us that He has overcome the world and the enemy  has no real power over us as long as we continue to walk by faith and not by sight.  So ask yourself today and in the next weeks and months: is what I’m going through as good as all that God has promised me?  If not, don’t be afraid to open your mouth and tell the devil he’s a liar and you’re not going to listen to him anymore!

Trust & Go

The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."  But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me." ~ 1 Samuel 16:1-2

How often do we hear the word, “Go” and fret about it the way Samuel did?  We hear God calling us, but somehow His words fall flat.  It’s as though we trust that He was big enough to create the world, but not that He’s strong enough to protect us in it.  I’ve started reading Linchpin, by Seth Godin.  In his book, Godin talks about being indispensable in our jobs or in the things we are passionate about and doing so by standing out, taking a chance, and following the road less traveled.  He said, “No one is a genius all the time…But we are all geniuses sometimes…[Our] problem is that…we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability,” (1, italics mine).

That’s where Samuel was—and where we often are—when God calls to us: stuck in apparent stability.  But if we’re going to see the promises of God fulfilled in our lives, then we must trust the One who’s sending us.  We must trust the One who made heaven and earth, who so intricately knit us together in our mother’s womb, who hemmed us in on all sides, that when He says, “Go,” He will journey with us, (Psalm 146:6; Psalm 139:13; Psalm 139:5).

Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to how foolish I’ve been in hiding behind my apparent stability.  Thank you, Father, for your promises to walk with me and to never leave nor forsake me.  Thank you for gently loving and nudging me the way you do.  Only You could love me so well.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Just Believe

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” ~ Mark 5:36 (NIV)

We all have naysayers in our lives.  Some people simply  thrive on negativity and chaos, while others simply don’t know another way and think, “what you see is what you get and you can’t do anything about it.” But Jesus said we have to look beyond what we can see.  If we continue to walk by sight only, and not by faith, we will be trapped and controlled by our fear.

Jesus also said if we have faith the size of the world’s smallest seed, nothing will be impossible for us, (see Matthew 17:20 NIV).  What is it that you need?  A synagogue ruler needed a miracle for his dying daughter.  A friend needs healing after a heart attack, stroke, and infection.  A mother needs relief from morning sickness and health and strength in her whole body.  A couple need income so they can raise their child the way God wants.  And to every person and every situation Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

For we walk by faith, not by sight. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)

~Heather Potts~

So Take Heart!

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ~ John 16:33, NIV

I’ve always loved this scripture.  I think it’s because it tells an honest story about what we encounter in this world, but also encourages us with the Truth.  I learned a long time ago that the word “but” negates anything that comes before it.  Here, Jesus is telling us that this world is not just going to give us butterflies and bunnies all the time.  Unfortunately, hardships will befall us.  But He does end there.  He says, “But take heart!”  That’s exciting, and even more encouraging is that Jesus wasn’t the only one who had the power and authority to overcome. 

Jesus told us, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father,” (John 14:12, NLT).  We might ask, how can that be?  And the answer is through grace.  Grace is not only favor, but also power.  In Ephesians 1:19, it’s described as “immeasurable and unlimited.”  And in 1 John 5:4, we learn that this power to overcome the adversities in our world are extended to us, too, “for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” 

The next time you are facing something that seems insurmountable to you, just remember to take heart!  For it was not only Christ who overcame, but He also extended that power to us, as well.  So take heart!

Distractions

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ~ Hebrews 10:35-36

A distraction is an interruption; anything that divides our attention or prevents concentration. 

The above scripture says to not throw away my confidence, but to persevere.  That means acknowledging the distraction (I’ve discovered that if I try to just ignore it, it doesn’t go away), evaluating if it needs to be dealt with, and then moving my focus and energy back to the things to which God has called me.  Let me give you an example, which happened just this last week.  The company I work for was sold.  On Friday, before the end of the day, we were told that we were losing some benefits, and that some others would cost us more money.  This was a distraction, but not one that I could ignore.  It needed to be assessed and dealt with.  This weekend, my husband and I sat down and looked at our new options for insurance and then we tallied up the cost.  Then we looked at the cost of the benefits they were taking away from us.  In the end, the total “cost” is over $1,000 per year.  A thousand dollars is a pretty substantial distraction.

But then this morning, I began to evaluate my perception and my perspective of this situation.  If perception is discernment, then my perception is that the financial loss is nothing more than a distraction.  If I take my focus off of this one circumstance and remember all that God blessed us with over the past year, I’ll realize that He blessed us with well over 2 times that amount.  And because this is just a distraction, I need to remember to not throw away my confidence in my true Supplier, who meets all my needs and to continue to persevere so that I will receive all that He has promised me (Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 10:35-36).

And then I began to look at my perspective.  If perspective is value, then by wallowing in self-pity, I’ve placed a much higher value on my feelings than on my faith in God and on the value of my family.  By continuing to stress over this situation I’m telling God that He is not big enough to take care of us and His promises are worthless.  Hebrews 11:1, 3 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”  It is not my faith in my employer or myself or anything of this world that will supply all our needs.  It is only faith in God and in the promises that He has revealed to us.  And it is only by my standing firm on those promises that I can rest assured that “he who promised is faithful,” (Hebrews 10:23).

So the next time distractions come, evaluate them, deal with them, and then go back about the Father’s business in confidence.

It's a Get-To

It’s a “get to,” not a “have to” ~ Pastor Mark Childers

With all the circumstances, situations, and conversations we are involved in everyday it’s not surprising that our response is not always the best.  However, our actions or reactions are all based upon our perception and perspective of each situation.  Perception is how we look at the situation determine, “what’s really going on.”  For example, you share news with a friend that you’ve just been blessed beyond belief and their only response to you is one of anger and rage.  Your perception gives you the ability to look past their “outward” attitude and realize that there might be hurt going on inside and their reaction is simply the pain talking.

Perspective, however, is looking at a situation and evaluating every aspect to determine its level of worth.  Those you determine have a higher level of worth are the things you tend to hold on to and remember, while the other items tend to be discarded.  In the situation above, your perspective will determine how you feel as you walk away from it.  If you value your friend higher than your own hurt feelings, your perspective will label the situation as something to the effect of, “my friend’s in pain and needs extra love and prayer.”  If, however, you value your own hurt feelings above your friend’s, then your perspective will probably label the situation as, “Note to self: don’t share future blessings with that person.”

Both perception and perspective are very important in every situation.  The Bible says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,” (Colossians 3:23).  If we walk into every situation with that in the forefront of our minds, our perception and perspective will be more focused on, “I get to…” interact with this person, love on them, show them grace in a difficult situation, do my best, honor them, etc.  If we are focused on “have to”, it removes our joy, and we begin grumbling and complaining.  Take a look at  how you view things.  The Bible calls us to “do everything without arguing or complaining,” (Philippians 2:14).  Try to stay focused on “get to”; make it a priority to have it be your first thought in every situation and see how it changes your perception and perspective, no matter what the circumstance.